Máirín Quill
Question:32 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Justice if she will respond to the recommendations of the report of the Lord Mayor's Commission on Crime. [5481/95]
Written Answers. - Lord Mayor's Commission on Crime.
The report of the Lord Mayor's Commission on Crime is a very valuable contribution to the serious debate about crime. It provides a considered, balanced and detailed overview of the crime problem and addresses the issue in a broad context. The conclusions reached are similar in many respects to those reached by the inter-departmental group on urban crime and disorder which reported in 1992.
The Lord Mayor's Commission report which, contrary to alarmist claims, found that crime levels have not increased greatly in the capital since 1983 stresses the need to tackle the fundamental causes of crime. This is something I fully endorse as it is my view that it is only by dealing with the causes of crime that we can ever hope for a meaningful and sustained reduction in the level of crime. Time and time again, it has been noted that criminals seem to come from depressingly similar backgrounds. The causal relationship between crime and the range of factors identified in the report cannot be disputed. Unemployment, educational failure and substance abuse are core issues which cannot be overlooked in any serious approach to crime. This, of course, is not to offer these factors as an excuse for crime. Rather, it is to seek to explain the underlying and deep-rooted nature of the problem.
As regards deficient urban planning. I was especially interested to note the emphasis placed in the report on practical measures that could be taken by the local authorities to deal with the conditions that generate crime. Overall, the report has made an important and valuable contribution to our understanding of crime. I can assure the Deputy that, in framing my Department's response to the crime situation, the findings of the Lord Mayor's Commission on Crime will be among the material to be seriously considered.